Circle in the Sand
by MacKettric
Summary: When Riot finds out Jem’s true identity, will Jerrica find true love with Riot, or only heartache?
1. Chapters 1 & 2

Circle in the Sand  
  
by Kett M Robbins  
  
Summery- When Riot finds out Jem's true identity, will Jerrica find true love with Riot, or only heartache?  
  
Rated PG-13  
  
Jerrica entered Starlight Music in a panic. She was starting to believe she may never make it to work on time. Joni had managed to push the A&R meeting back an hour, but that still only left her a few minutes to prepare. Jerrica was just thankful Joni never asked why she always seemed to blame Jem when she was running late. Perhaps it was slightly schizophrenic to consider Jem to be a different person, but Jem's schedule was not always of Jerrica's making. Right now, Jem's social calendar was wreaking havoc on Jerrica's business obligations.  
  
Jerrica stopped at her office door, still trying to collect herself on the task ahead. She looked around for Joni, who was nowhere in sight. She didn't notice Riot; still as drunk as Jem had left him at the party the night before; waiting by her office door, until it was too late.  
  
Jerrica had only a few seconds to register his sinister smile before he had her pinned against the wall in a kiss straight out of a soap opera. Jerrica kissed him back out of habit; if nothing else; until she realized they were in the hallway of Starlight Music.  
  
She shoved him back, stammering, "Riot! Wh-what's gotten into you?"  
  
Riot had definite intentions, and seemed taken back by Jerrica's protests. "I didn't get to kiss you good night after the party," he said causally.  
  
Jerrica didn't even think, she just reacted, grabbing Riot's shirt collar and dragging him into her office. She paused, with her back to him, locking the door. Her mind was racing with every thought imaginable, 'maybe he didn't mean what I thought he meant,' she thought, turning around. She then had to fight the urge to smack the smug smile off his face. He knew.  
  
"Well, what was that all about?" She stormed, she couldn't think of anything else to do, but try to act her way out of this.  
  
"I thought it was you. I wanted to be certain, so I kissed you."  
  
"Me? Who?" Jerrica questioned. This time, she didn't have to act, she was so shocked she could barely comprehend what he was saying.  
  
"Now that I think about it; it was obvious, but I knew for certain when I kissed you."  
  
Jerrica still stared blankly at him, too stunned to say anything more than gibberish. Riot, true to form, confidently explained his take on the situation.  
  
"It's understandable why this is such a secret, when Rio finds out, he's never going to speak to you again."  
  
Jerrica's expression said it all, as she slowly sat down on the couch. With that said, Riot's demeanor did a 180, loosing the rock star persona.  
  
"It does make sense," Riot said, sitting down next to her. He sounded more like the guy Jem loved to talk to than the pompous ass Jerrica was about to hit. "Starlight Music was in enough trouble, when Eric Raymond took it over," Riot continued. "You never would have been able to sign yourself as Starlight Music's biggest act. It would have looked more corrupt than Eric...  
  
"You did have me worried," he bellowed in laughter, "making me think that Jem was really some mundane housewife turned rock star," he continued to laugh. He obviously meant this to be a complement. When Jerrica didn't acknowledge his humor, Riot moved closer, first putting his hand on her cheek, then through her hair; trying to continue what they had going in he hallway, but Jerrica wasn't playing along.  
  
"How could you have possibly have known?" Jerrica asked, staring out the window across the room. She didn't mean to ask Riot a question, as to pose the question to herself, that anyone, let alone Riot, could figure out her secret.  
  
Riot smiled, starting to play Mr. Egotistic, but quickly cut the charm and gave an honest answer. "You two are different, but you have the same mannerisms, ways of speaking, there are enough clues to put the puzzle together.... Though, I was almost certain I've seen you to together..." Riot was about to question his own divine inspiration, but immediately stopped, "I've known for quite some time, but we were apart; on tour; so it was not the right time... Now it is...." Riot had taken both of Jerrica's hands into his and was trying to look her in the eyes, but Jerrica was only slightly paying attention. Riot, realizing was getting nowhere discussing his knowledge of Jem, decided on a different tactic. "How did you get into so much trouble with Rio?"  
  
"Oh," Jerrica said, with her typical whine. "You weren't there, you couldn't understand. Eric was running Starlight Music into the ground, he signed the Misfits, Starlight House was falling apart, everything was going wrong, we just wanted to get back control of Starlight Music, get back the funding to Starlight House, I wasn't thinking long term... We had no explanation for Jem..... Every time I tried to tell Rio, something came up...."  
  
"What could have possibly kept you from telling Rio?" Riot asked, thinking Jerrica was simply making excuses for not ever wanting to tell Rio the truth.  
  
Jerrica couldn't help cracking a smile, "Like the Misfits crashing the party we were at and Jem falling overboard, Eric kidnapping one of the Starlight Girls, Kimber's boyfriends getting into a fight...."  
  
"Oh", Riot said, sorry he'd asked.  
  
"I know it sounds strange, but things were happening so fast then. I wasn't sure were I stood with Rio after my father passed away, then all of a sudden, Rio's chasing after the lead singer of my band, only it's me, but he doesn't know it's me, but maybe that's why he likes her, 'cos he really does know it's me..."  
  
Riot put his arm around Jerrica, "you really need a vacation. " he sighed, as she put her head against his shoulder. Jerrica wasn't suppose to feel this way about Riot, Jem was.  
  
Before she could make any decisions she might regret, Joni buzzed in on the intercom in Jerrica's office. "Jerrica, should I postpone the A&R meeting until tomorrow?" Joni asked, not at all surprised Jerrica once again had forgotten about a meeting.  
  
"Duty calls," Jerrica said, standing up. Riot followed. "We'll talk later, okay?" she asked, totally in charge of the situation.  
  
Slightly taken back by her complete change in attitude, Riot stayed quiet, so Jerrica leaned in and gave him a hug. "I can trust you with Jem's secret, can't I?" she asked, already having to believe he would,  
  
"Of course..." he smiled back, hesitating to kiss her, when Jerrica kissed him. Jerrica wasn't sure why. Either she was looking for a relationship with someone who would understand all of the responsibilities in her life, or she was simply playing Riot's game to keep him quiet. Deciding which would take some long talks with Synergy and the Holograms.  
  
"Jerrica...." Joni buzzed in again.  
  
"Gotta go," Jerrica said, heading for the door.  
  
"Dinner?" he asked.  
  
"Sounds great."  
  
"I'll pick you up at your place at .. six?"  
  
"Starlight Music at eight," she corrected, but tried to seem excited about the date, now she was really acting.  
  
The A&R meeting was a bust. It had been months since Starlight Music had signed a promising new act. Compounded with Starlight's botched distribution deal in Europe, Jerrica definitely needed at night on the town as Jem.  
  
Synergy did not disappoint, rendering Holograms a terrific new outfit straight from Shana's design. Business had kept Jerrica from concentrating on the Riot situation, so when he arrived at Starlight Music that evening, Jerrica, now as Jem, had no choice other than pretending everything was fine.  
  
"You look debonair, as usual," Jem said, flirting with Riot as much as permitted in the main lobby of Starlight Music.  
  
"Wow! You look spectacular!" Riot smiled, "when did you have time to change?" Riot questioned coyly, expecting to hear that Jerrica's corporate side had given way to Jem's glamour and she took the rest of the day off to prepare for their date.  
  
"Oh, you know girls never give away all of their secrets," Jem smiled, leading Riot out of Starlight before anyone took notice of them together. Most of Starlight's employees would not appreciate Jem dating the rival music company's biggest star.  
  
If there was anything Jerrica was beginning admire about Riot, it was his ability to charm his way into anything he wanted, especially a secluded table at one of LA's trendiest restaurants on a moments notice. As they ate, their conversation focused on what Riot did today, Riot's argument with Minx, his constant disagreements with Eric; the normal, which was fine with Jem. She asked how his parents were. That discussion normally would have lasted the rest of the night, but Riot realized what she was doing.  
  
"So, how was your meeting?" he asked like a little kid, just dying to taunt that he knew something no one else knew.  
  
"Work, nothing exciting, go on with your story," Jem said.  
  
"I insist, how'd your A&R meeting go?"  
  
Jem wanted to correct him, it was Jerrica's meeting, not Jem's, but for now, she let it go. "You know, a typical meeting. A lot of bands, a lot of...."  
  
"Bad music, I know, Eric fires the A&R reps every other month," Riot laughed.  
  
Jem practiced the diplomacy she'd been working so hard to master. "Eric had a lot to learn from Jerrica's father. The music business is about people, rather than this week's bottom line. .. You know Starlight Music's never been about the flavor of the week artists, and we support the bands we sign, if only be could get some decent overseas distribution." Jem wished she hadn't said the last part, Riot wasn't just Jem's boyfriend, he was the manipulative, conniving, competition.  
  
"Know the feeling, only reversed. The Stingers' first EP sold great in Europe, but our indy label in the States didn't have the distribution to make an impact."  
  
"Jem's signed with a EMI in Europe, but Starlight Music can't break into Europe with our other artists. Do you know anyone over at......" In an instance, Jem had switched back to Jerrica, not physically, but competition or not, Starlight Music needed the connections Riot might have.  
  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"You told Riot what?" Aja choked.  
  
"I didn't tell him anything, he just figured it out."  
  
"How?" Aja continued to question, now almost yelling.  
  
Jerrica flopped in a chair, too tired to argue; to confused to explain anything herself.  
  
"Couldn't you have denied it, you know, have Synergy create hologram of Jem running across the street?"  
  
"It wouldn't have worked," Jerrica said, in a low voice, shaking her head.  
  
"It would have if he was hit by a bus chasing after her," Kimber interjected. She did succeed in making her sister smile, but Aja wasn't through strategizing what could happen next, and how they could prevent it.  
  
"Do you know how bad this could he if he tells Minx or Rapture and they tell Pizazz?"  
  
"You don't understand..." Jerrica sighed, resigning to argue with Aja, or atleast try, "Riot loves Jem, more than he dislikes Jerrica. He's tying to win me over so he can be with Jem, I think. Anyways, he promised not to tell .. He wouldn't trust Minx and Rapture with something like this, he knows what they're like."  
  
"You mean he uses them like he using Jem and now you too," Shana pointed out.  
  
"That's not what I meant,.. Guys, I'm really tired, it's been a really long day."  
  
"Jerrica, we've got to figure out what to do," Aja insisted  
  
"Yes, Jerrica, Aja's right, remember, Regine?" Raya interjected.  
  
"Jerrica! Riot's going to play his mind games with you for a while, them toss you a side like yesterday's newspaper," Shana insisted. Jerrica wasn't use to being confronted on so many sides, without a way of explaining her point of view. Shana didn't usually take a side on something like that. Jerrica just continued shaking her head. She knew she was right, she just didn't know how to put what she was feeling into words that would convince the other two holograms.  
  
"C'mon you guys," Kimber defended, after Jerrica had burred her head in her lap out of frustration more than anything else. "Jerrica's kept Jem's secret this long, and she's known who to trust along the way, so why don't you three just bug off, you can't be certain Riot will spill the beans,... right Jerrica?"  
  
Jerrica had to smile at her sister taking on the group to defend her, even though she wasn't quite sure if Kimber believed what she was saying. Kimber had been taken in by Riot's spell before, and now was more than just a little distrustful of him.  
  
"Now, I really am going to bed. If Riot can't keep his mouth shut, I'm sure Jem's secret will be in the morning paper... night," she waved, already half way out the door.  
  
Jerrica's sarcasm left the older two holograms in disbelief, Kimber left shortly after Jerrica did. She'd had enough arguing with Aja for one day, and it was pointless to debate this any further. Jerrica was right, what was done was done. The pendulum had been put in motion and nothing the holograms could do was going to be able to stop it.  
  
Kimber felt a bit of role reversal she wasn't quite comfortable with when she knocked on Jerrica's bedroom door fifteen minutes or so after her tiff with the holograms in the rehearsal room. Kimber figured someone better figure out if Jerrica was truly all right, or just putting on a brave front in the wake of the possible demised of Jem and the Holograms.  
  
"Jerrica, you wanna talk?" Kimber asked, peering in.  
  
"If it's only you, sure..." Jerrica said in a low voice. She waited until Kimber had entered the room and shut the door before saying anything else. "Today has just been so..... weird... that's the only word I can find to describe it. ... I can't figure out if Riot has just learned how to manipulate me, or if he truly is being honest..." Jerrica said, pondering every word that came out as if it might give her the answer that she was searching for. "Riot told me he loved me tonight, well he told Jem he loved her, but he knows the truth... I really believe he meant it... How can I be cynical about something like that... I don't want to be the kind of person who can shrug off someone saying that to me..."  
  
"Strange men are always telling Jem they love her," Kimber said, continuing the jokes for no other reason than to keep from agreeing with Jerrica.  
  
Jerrica continued her train of thought, not quite paying attention enough to Kimber to ignore her attempt at humor. "How long have I known Rio and he's never said that, not once. What if Riot really does love me, how could I just blow him off like he doesn't matter, that's exactly how..."  
  
"...Riot treats other people," Kimber said, finishing Jerrica's thought. Kimber didn't stop to think, just said what she thought, "well, I guess the all important question is do you love him?" Kimber asked, but she suspected that Jerrica was being far to rational right now to answer such a subjective question. "Unless you're willing to fall for the first guy who says the "L" word."  
  
Jerrica looked over, with a look described only as combination of a shrug and a wince. Perhaps her feelings were not the most important thing to Jerrica at that very moment, or the answer was one that Kimber would not want to hear. "I don't know.... It's not that simple, Kimber."  
  
"Even if you forgot about all the crap the Stingers have pulled and just thought of Riot as just another guy, and you as just another girl?"  
  
Jerrica couldn't help laughing, "what, are you now on Riot's side?"  
  
"No, I just don't want you to give up someone that you might love just because everyone else thinks he's a two faced jerk."  
  
"Thanks, I think..." Jerrica leaned back, she knew what she was going to say, she was just waiting to say it. "I guess the question is whether I have a future with Rio once he knows the truth.... Riot's willing to get to know Jem's other identity, but I don't know how Rio would be able to cope with the truth..."  
  
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Kimber asked, not sure if Jerrica had completely lost it yet or not.  
  
"I've got to tell Rio the truth no matter what the out come.... I have to protect him from hearing it from Riot first.... regardless of what is going on in Riot's mind, I can't let Rio find out from Jem's secret from Riot, or anyone else...."  
  
"I never thought about that, but you're right....."  
  
"I've imagined what it was going to be like when someone found out a million times, and I never thought it was ever going to feel like this.... I thought I'd rehearsed every detail.... this hasn't gone the way I'd planed, but I've always known that eventually, I would have to tell Rio.... If this does make the media, we've got to break the news to the Starlight Girls and our friends ourselves, do as much damage control as possible... I should have Synergy monitor the AP wire service just in case. .." Jerrica started to make her way out of her mental fog of emotions and devising part of a plan to deal with this new situation.  
  
"How about monitor Riot's phone while she's at it."  
  
"I'm sure she could, but that's illegal... and wrong..."  
  
The two headed down to Synergy, avoiding Aja, Shana, and Raya who were still up discussing their feeling about Riot. Jerrica was surprised the house was still standing.  
  
"Synergy? We need your advice..." Jerrica said after walking through the holographic wall.  
  
Synergy turned on within a few seconds, "How did your date with Riot go?" she asked.  
  
"You know that Riot knows the truth."  
  
"I surmised as much... I must warn you Jerrica, Riot is not always worthy of your trust.. He has ties both to Eric Raymond and his own agenda, his father is in the military, he could be very dangerous if he found out about my existence."  
  
"I don't think he's interested in discovering the magic behind Jem. He doesn't know about you, and I am sure that I can reveal my identity as Jem's without revealing your existence as well."  
  
"What does this to to your relationship with Rio?"  
  
"That, Synergy, is the million dollar question, I don't know. Right now, I've got to concentrate on damage control. If Riot wasn't sincere, Jem's secret could be on the cover of every newspaper in America tomorrow. Can you monitor the AP wire, or anything that can give us a heads up in case our secret is revealed?"  
  
"Of course.... Perhaps Aja and Shana could be of some help," Synergy suggested, not wanting to say that perhaps Jerrica and Kimber on their own were a bit over their heads.  
  
"That's what I'm here for," Kimber insisted. "Aja and Shana are being jerks."  
  
"Synergy, I'm okay, and I'll straighten things out with Aja and Shana in the morning. A lot has changed and I don't know where I stand right now. All I can figure out now is that I have to tell Rio the truth, regardless of anything else, I can't let him find out the truth from Riot.. The rest will have to take care of itself, because that's all I'm concerned with right now." With that, Jerrica turned away and left the room. She had a lot on her mind, and Synergy's advice was not quite in line with her own intuition right now.  
  
"You think this will all work out?" Kimber asked as soon as she knew Jerrica couldn't hear.  
  
"Honestly, Kimber, I don't know." Synergy replied.  
  
The morning came and no news on the identity of Jem except for a Weekly Cool Trash article about Jem's voyage back to her home planet by some psychic writer on staff at Cool Trash. Jerrica was probably more confused by Riot again proving that he was not the person she thought he was. Had all of this been a trick to reveal Jem's secret plotted by Eric Raymond, it would have been in all of the tabloids by now. If there was one thing Eric didn't have, it was patience. Which left Jerrica at the only other conclusion, Riot was being more honest than she, and now Jerrica had to step up to the plate and discuss with Rio the future of their relationship.  
  
"Jerrica!" called Becky from the kitchen, "Phone!" She wasn't given any indication it was Riot, so she picked up the phone expecting a business call.  
  
"Hello, sweetheart, how did you sleep?"  
  
"Uh...Fine," she said, checking to make sure the Starlight Girls weren't listening in before continuing. Her mind was racing, she couldn't figure out where to begin, her moment of hesitation allowed Riot to jump in, as he always did.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about you," he said, Jerrica could see the broad smile across his face through the phone line. "I want to talk to you in person, can you meet me for lunch today?"  
  
"Lunch?... I'll try, I've got a meeting, it might run late," Jerrica sighed, Riot was in fact being perfect, but there was the little issue of her hectic schedule.  
  
"What about dinner?" he asked. Dinner was a bit more complicated, perhaps more serious, ditching her friends and Rio to eat dinner with Riot two nights in a row, if it didn't mean anything to her, it would certainly mean something to Aja and Shana. "Jerrica, " he insisted, "we need to talk." She couldn't say no, she didn't want to, the prospect of having another agitated evening at home with her friends or worrying over Rio, or a nice quiet dinner with Riot was perfect.  
  
"Sure, " she sighed. She hung up before she thought about it any further, and then realized later that day, she and Rio might every well not be together, and her dinner with Riot might very well be the beginning of their relationship. It sent a sharp chill down her spine, but at the same time, the prospect of a new relationship with Riot was a lot more exciting than dealing with the same old problems with Rio.  
  
Jerrica thought she'd escape out the back door before anyone was up, and avoid any continuation of last night's discussion. She thought she'd almost made it, when she heard Kimber's voice.  
  
"So you're gonna tell Rio today?" she questioned, quietly, trying to hide her worry, but feeling she had to say something.  
  
"Yeah, I think so.... I think I have to, with Riot knowing...." she sighed, nothing in her mind had changed since last night.  
  
"Good luck," Kimber sighed. Jerrica smiled, knowing this was all Kimber could say on short notice, she needed a couple hours and a pen and paper to come up with something more inspired.  
  
"Thanks," Jerrica smiled back, hauling her briefcase in one hand and jacket in another and heading for the Roadster.  
  
Jerrica spent the better half of the morning in meetings she really didn't even know were scheduled. Joni just kept ushering in people in for inane discussions of corporate fiscal policies that she knew Joni herself was much more adept at handling. She was the CPA, not Jerrica. With all the numbers being thrown around, along with accounting terminology that Jerrica only vaguely understood, compounded with the worry over both Riot and Rio made the meetings drag on forever, and she couldn't escape the feeling she was letting both her business responsibilities and personal responsibilities down.  
  
Jerrica'd left three messages for Rio, so they could talk face to face. She saw him peer into her office after one of the loan officers from a bank left and she smiled broadly and got up to greet him. He kissed her politely, a bit more than a kiss on the cheek, but nothing undignified for a CEO of a company to be doing in her unlocked office.  
  
"What?" he questioned, half smiling, half concerned.  
  
"It's just good to see you...it's getting a bit hectic," she sighed, walking back into her office and hoping to sit down and talk to Rio. She wasn't sure she was going to tell him then, she had too many important meetings the rest of the day to risk being emotionally distraught; depending on what Rio said. None the less she had to tell him, and she began the process of preparing herself, and Rio.  
  
Rio saw the stress in her expression, she couldn't hide the pressure of her responsibilities from him easily, he moved in closer, taking her hands in his and began to speak when Joni bustled in with two of her assistants all toting stacks of papers and ledgers. Two members of the board of directors followed, looking as stodgily as Jerrica remembered them as a child when her father first founded the company. Rio made a funny expression remarking about their horrible timing without words.  
  
"We'll talk later," he sighed, smiling, and giving a slight wave goodbye.  
  
"Bye," she said, it all of a sudden hitting her what they would be talking about the next time they'd meet.  
  
These types of meeting never went well for Jerrica, or she never thought they went well. Her standards were set too high, compared to her infallible father, and the pressure was immense for Starlight to turn a profit, and for Jem's career to stay on the top and not falter. Her mind was spinning after it ended, and the work kept plying on. She concentrated hard, typing at her computer, after having poured over report after report with Joni and various other people in her staff.  
  
"Jerrica," Joni, said, knocking once on Jerrica's open office door and walking in. "I'm going to head home," she said.  
  
"Is it that late?" she said, only then checking the clock. "Night, Joni, see you tomorrow," she smiled.  
  
"You look worried, the budget's not looking that bad," she smiled, back walking closer.  
  
"Naw, it's not that," she sighed.  
  
"Don't stay too late, take a break when you can," she mothered.  
  
"I know, but I should wait for Rio," she said, reluctant to stop working, it did keep her from thinking about her situation with Rio.  
  
"I forgot to tell you, he had to go handle a situation with the upcoming Limp Lizards concerts," she said offhand. Rio and Jerrica not seeing each other for days and days because of work was never a big deal.  
  
"Oh," Jerrica said, trying not to sound disappointed.  
  
"Night, Jerrica," Joni said, walking out..  
  
Jerrica continued to work until she heard footsteps approaching, she her heart skipped, expecting Rio.  
  
"Am I interrupting?" Riot asked, peering in.  
  
Jerrica immediately felt relieved, and expression Riot most certainly would misinterpret.  
  
"Am I?" he repeated.  
  
"No, of course," she smiled, she stood up; the two embraced, Riot holding her in a moment she just needed someone. But she regretted instantly that it was him there in her time of weakness.  
  
"Stressful day?" he questioned.  
  
"Always," she said, leading him over to the couch on the other side of her office so they could talk. She wasn't sure what to make of anything, but Riot's allure was almost overwhelming.  
  
"You look worried," he said, equally as sensitive.  
  
Jerrica flinched, wondering how exactly she was letting him read her so well.  
  
"I don't know how we're going to make this work either, your friends hate me, and my friends hate you," he said, almost reading her mind  
  
"I..wouldn't say hate..." Jerrica tried to deny, but Riot chuckled, and she relented. "Okay, maybe, but," she couldn't ignore the feeling in her heart of hearts that this did in fact feel right. "Maybe, you and my sister could, I don't know, try and get along?" she said, almost waiting for a hostile reaction.  
  
Riot just made a face, "I don't know," he sighed. Kimber wasn't someone he concerned himself with much. He waited a bit, then change the subject slightly, "Sometimes I envy you being able to live your life not as a rock star.... I have no choice," he said slowly. He wasn't gathering his words, he already knew exactly what he was going to say, he was just simply waiting to say them.  
  
Jerrica jumped in, knowing an explanation was coming, but unable to stop herself. "Care to explain that?" she said, trying not to sound indignant, but she knew Riot hadn't meant it as an insult.  
  
"As Riot," he said with as much grandeur as he could express, motioning with his hands, "I am expected to be, how shall I phrase this," he paused, for affect only, "larger than life.... That persona is part of the Stingers success, without it The Stingers would not be the Stingers, and yet, I have to live my private life as Riot. It's impossible for people can't separate me from the stage act," he sighed, looking a bit depressed. Jerrica hesitated to respond, her skepticism about Riot wasn't completely resolved, especially since this was exactly what she wanted to hear. Jerrica knew Riot was a master at playing people, she just wasn't sure what Riot's game with her was about.  
  
"I understand, I think," she said, if only to say something.  
  
"You get to be a normal person, you can walk into a store and not be mobbed by people screaming to get your autograph, you can go into a meeting and argue for Jem without being thought of as an arrogant singer...."  
  
"I have to be two people, you only have to be one," Jerrica said quickly. She wasn't angry she just wasn't in the mood for a 'whoa is me' ranting from Riot. Not when she had to tell Rio the truth, she didn't have time to play therapist to Riot. She prepared for an argument, she knew Riot well enough to know he could turn on her in a second. But once again, he surprised her.  
  
"You okay?" he asked, turning to look at her, "you look tired."  
  
"Yeah," she sighed, letting Riot scoot closer and put his arm around her.  
  
"I just don't get your sister," he said, after a minute or two. "All she does is go around chasing guys. Not like Minx, she's ..."  
  
"She's only nineteen," Jerrica laughed. "Kimber, is, well passionate about everything, her songs, life, the opposite of me, I'm too practical, Kimber too impulsive, we make a good team."  
  
"She writes all of Jem's songs?" Riot asked, only to keep talking. Jerrica wasn't sure if he was all that interested in the subject of a truce with her friends, but she knew he didn't mind sitting there with her leaning her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, along with Aja."  
  
"She's the girl with the blue hair right?" Riot continuing their quiet conversation and not knowing he'd said anything wrong.  
  
Jerrica sat up and looked at him, trying to scrutinize what she was thinking; feeling, "You really don't care, do you, about anyone but yourself?" she stormed.  
  
Jerrica almost saw through the charm, getting very angry that Riot clearly didn't have any intentions of trying to fit into her life. She pulled away, trying to think, "this isn't going to work," she sighed, "I'm sorry, this just can't work." She got up and walked to the window on the other side of her office. She watched Riot's reflection in the window in front of her as he followed her, but didn't acknowledge him, even when he walked up behind her and put his arms around her; pulling her into a tight embrace.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that they way it sounded," he whispered in her ear.  
  
"Things are just so different between us, my family, my friends they're everything to me, they're why I do all this," she said, motioning around her office to mean Starlight Music.  
  
"I'm not that different. I have my friends, my family, well....."  
  
"But we are.... I miss my parents so much, and you, you barely speak to yours. My friends, they're the world to me, and you, sometimes I don't know if your friends with Minx and Rapture or just using them?"  
  
"And your friends aren't using you? You're here fifteen hours a day running Starlight and they're where.. at home?"  
  
"Taking care of the girls," she sighed. "the other part of my life that you aren't comfortable with."  
  
"Well, as long as they aren't chasing me around for my autograph," he sighed.  
  
"I don't get you, when it's just you and me, it's wonderful, when it involves anyone else, you change, and I don't know you anymore," she sighed, leaning back into his arms and he pulled her closer.  
  
"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I didn't mean to upset you."  
  
"I..I can't keep seeing you and my friends can't get along, Riot, I just can't."  
  
"I can't change their opinions of me, Jerrica," he sighed.  
  
"You can, they just worry that you're using me, once they see how wonderful you are, how much I'm... beginning to love you, they will understand. But you can't treat them the way you have before. My sister isn't just one of the Starlight Girls, Aja's not just some guitarists. The Girls... the Starlight Girls are my life, they're why all of this exists, it's the only way I can follow in my mother's shadow and fulfill her dream. It's all that's important to me," she sighed, still staring out the window, but every aware of how wonderful it felt for Riot to be holding her.  
  
"I understand that, I guess I just grew up in such a different environment, I can't trust people the way you do. I've never been able to rely on my friends or family for anything, everything I've accomplished, I've done on my own."  
  
"I know," she said, moving her hands up to his. "When I met your parents, I understood you so much better. Growing up with all that, I know you have a lot of unresolved issues, I just wish you try solving your problems creatively, get your feelings down on paper, rather than getting drunk and treating people they way you do. That's how Kimber sorts out her problems," she sighed. She wasn't sure if Riot would be angry with her for saying what she had, but she was desperate to try to make their relationship to work. She didn't want to have to make a choice between Riot or her friends, because she knew what her choice would be. Her mother would definitely not approve of her choice.  
  
"I suppose," he sighed.  
  
"I know it's hard," she said, turning around, to look him in the eyes.  
  
He smiled, gathering her up in his arms, "for you anything," he said, leaning down to kiss her.  
  
They paused for a moment, both to think. Then Riot broke away, walking towards the window to look closer at the Singer Sound building holding Jerrica's hand and she followed.  
  
"You're right, I am Riot," he said, turning to look at her, a glint in his eye. "I can't be controlled by my past, my father might have been able to control me as a child, but not now, never again. You're right, there is much to think about, much to express in a song. You're friends should be dear to me, because they are dear to you, regardless if they show me the respect I deserve." He still smiled broadly, looking at Jerrica with an adoring look. "Thank you, once again your practicality has given me much to think about." He stepped closer, kissing Jerrica on the forehead, "I must go."  
  
"But Riot!" Jerrica tried to argue, but he didn't look back, leaving in a fervor.  
  
Later  
  
Over the next day and a half, Jerrica tried to tell Rio, but she could never find the right time; the right words; the right opportunity. She muddled through, trying to figure all of this out. It was complicated by the fact Riot was no where to be found. 


	2. Chapter 3

Circle in the Sand  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Aja stopped pacing and sat down at the breakfast table joining the rest of the Holograms and a few of the younger Starlight Girls who were delaying going to school for a few more minutes. The Holograms had been up all night talking about Jerrica's decision to tell Rio and the repercussions they expected from that decision. The apprehension was consuming them, and none of them knew what to do. No one spoke for a while until Mrs. Bailey bustled in, "I didn't know you girls were still here," she said to the four Holograms, "the way Jerrica rushed out of here this morning, I would have thought Jem and the Holograms were late for something," she laughed.  
  
"Where'd she go?" Aja asked, trying not to sound suspicious.  
  
"She didn't say, she just got a phone call and left immediately," Mrs. Bailey shrugged. "Ba Nee, Teri, come on, you'll be late for school," she said, shooing them out of their seats and handing them their backpacks. "Oh, hello, Rio, would you like some breakfast?" she greeted as Rio walked in.  
  
"No thanks," Rio smiled. He looked to the Holograms, "Have you seen Jerrica?" Rio asked. None of them rushed to answer, still aware that Ba Nee and Teri were still dawdling in the room. Mrs. Bailey escorted them out, letting them talk.  
  
Aja looked at her watch, "She's probably at Starlight, Rio," she said nonchalantly, it seemed normal that at quarter 'til 9 Jerrica would have had a meeting to rush to.  
  
"She's not," he said, trying to hide his annoyance. "She's been leaving messages for me everywhere and now she's no where to be found. What's up with her?"  
  
Kimber shrugged, rolling her eyes, "you know Jerrica," she said, before Aja could say something to dig Jerrica into a deeper hole.  
  
"Well, if you see her, will you tell her I'm at Starlight Music all day, after that I'm going out on that promotional tour with the 5th Ave Boys," he said, completely frustrated.  
  
"Okay," Kimber sighed. "Bye." She was pretty used to Jerrica smoothing things over with her boyfriends, but had never had to do the same for her sister.  
  
Aja waited until she heard the door slam and saw Rio out the window walking to his car, "I can't believe this," Aja sighed. She leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes, trying to think of a nice way to express her frustration with Jerrica. "I bet that was Riot who called! Jerrica's making all of these decisions that affect our lives!"  
  
"You can't blame Jerrica entirely, Rio did spend the whole tour chasing after Jem," Shana defended. She was just as annoyed, but was only more hesitant to blame her friend.  
  
"If Jerrica would forget about Riot and talk to Rio. Tell him to stop flirting with Jem, everything would go back to normal. None of this Riot crap," Aja grumbled, the idea of having to deal with Riot on a regular basis was more than she could bare.  
  
Kimber waited to think about her response, something she normally didn't do, but she had to say the right thing. "Jerrica might be right about telling Rio," Kimber said, hesitating to find her voice, "I know it might be risking loosing our stage manager, and a good friend. But if Rio does speak to us again, It'd make touring a lot less stressful. I'm sick of having to keep making excuses for where Jem went," Kimber tried to explained, the other three Holograms stopped and looked at her, not saying a word. "Okay, maybe that's not the best reason, but I can't be the only one who feels bad about lying to Rio that Jem had to catch an earlier flight or is on the bus with the gear rehearsing."  
  
"Okay, Jem's on the other bus is a little lame, I'll give you that, but this is as much our decision as it is Jerrica's," Aja insisted.  
  
"Try telling Jerrica that," Shana groaned, ending with a slight smile.  
  
"She's not going to take our advice, as much as we want to help..." Kimber pleaded, she didn't like the others being so hard on her sister. She knew this had all been debated to death but Kimber wanted to make her point. "Rio's our friend and Jerrica's right, we can't risk Riot hurting him. He's too important to us not to try."  
  
Aja shook her head, "there has to be another way. I won't let Riot dictate our lives."  
  
"What else can we do?" Shana asked.  
  
"Let's ask Synergy," Kimber suggested. They all agreed. It was their only option.  
  
Jerrica hadn't had any luck finding Riot, anywhere. She decided to avoid Minx and Rapture considering they'd left a message for her at Starlight Music accusing her of abducting Riot. It wasn't until then that she'd realized they didn't know where Riot was either.  
  
She reached her office at Starlight exhausted, her mind racing. "Where have you been, I've been looking for you everywhere," Rio started in on her immediately. Jerrica jumped, she'd been so deep in thought worrying about Riot it'd never occurred to her Rio might have gotten her messages.  
  
"Rio," she said, trying to smile. "hi, come in, sit down," she said, trying not to sound nervous. Rio didn't seem to be in the mood for a heart to heart.  
  
"This isn't about the tour budget for the 5th Ave Boys, is it? Because if we get another budget cut we might as well not do this tour at all," he said, not hiding his bitter reaction.  
  
"No, nothing like that, you know I've signed the budget you proposed," she said, having to back down and not start an argument. Just because he was sleeping with the CEO did mean Rio got a blank check for his projects at Starlight Music.  
  
"Okay," he said, sitting down, "funniest thing, Joe was saying that the whole building was talking about you and Riot meeting here a few days ago," he said, trying to sound casual or nonchalant, but the intent was obvious and he couldn't hide the sharpness of his tongue.  
  
"We did," she sighed, her response was so instantaneous she couldn't stop herself, "It was nothing, Jem suggested he talk to me, he wanted my opinion on some business things, that's all," she said, not realizing until after she said it that she had just lied to Rio about her identity again. How, then, could she tell him that she and Jem were the same person?  
  
"What'd that creep say?" Rio asked, when Jerrica hesitated to speak, unable to hide the worry from her face. He stood up immediately jumping to the conclusion Riot was being his normal unpleasant self and Jerrica didn't want to tell him.  
  
"No, it's not that. Riot was on his best behavior her..... I'm sorry, I'm acting neurotic," she sighed.  
  
"No, you're not, I was just worried, there was a lot of gossiping going on about you and Riot. I should have known it was really nothing," he said, his tone of voice completely changed and the concern evident.  
  
"It was," she insisted, once again lying to Rio.  
  
"So what did you want to tell me?" he asked.  
  
"Well, Rio, this isn't the... well, I think I have to...." Jerrica began to fumble around for the right words, she didn't think she'd get another chance to talk to Rio like this for a while. She only had to think of expression on Rio's face if Riot or one of the Misfits were to tell him about Jem's true identity for the motivation to come clean, regardless of the outcome. "Rio, I want you to hear me out, okay?" she said, her confidence rising. She was sitting at her father's desk, she looked across the room to the picture of her parents and knew they'd at least be proud of her for doing the right thing.  
  
"Okay," he said not suspecting at the least that what Jerrica was about to say was going to be a life changing event.  
  
Before Jerrica could say those three words, 'Rio I'm Jem' she'd been dreading for years, Joni bustled in with three board members, two accountants, and three assistants, all toting hundreds of documents.  
  
"Jerrica, I need you and Kimber to sign all of these," she said, waving a stack of bank papers.  
  
"Joni, can this wait a few minutes," she said, not hiding her annoyance that no one ever thought they had to knock to enter her office.  
  
"We can talk later, I have a meeting with the concert promoter soon anyways," Rio said, getting up and starting to walk out.  
  
Jerrica got up and followed, "Rio, I...."  
  
"I know, duty calls," he smiled, "go take care of this, I won't be busy later, I promise," he said quietly, touching her hand. Jerrica just nodded and turned back to her business colleagues.  
  
Her meetings were mind numbing. She almost felt angry at her father for leaving her to deal with all this, when all she could think about was having to tell Rio the truth. Her heart kept racing, her palms were sweating, if she didn't calm down soon she'd be having a panic attack right in the front of some of the most important people in her company. 'Get a grip' she muttered to herself.  
  
"Why don't we break for a few minutes," Joni suggested, seeing the look on Jerrica's face, she leaned over to her, "why don't you step out and get some air." Jerrica agreed and stepped out of the room quickly without a word to anyone.  
  
She paced nervously by the back entrance to the building. "Joni said you'd be out here," Rio said softly. "What's going on, the budget can't be that bad?"  
  
"It's not Starlight," she sighed, staring at the ground.  
  
He stepped closer, his running his hand down her side of her face and raising her chin to look at him. "Tell me, you can talk to me about anything, you know that," he said softly into her ear.  
  
"I've got to go back to the meeting," she sighed, resting her head against his chest only to avoid looking him in the eyes, "I can't."  
  
"What?" he asked, a bit exasperated. He wasn't angry, he just couldn't figure out what was so important that she would get herself this worked up over it.  
  
"Talk to me after the meeting, okay," she smiled, reaching up and giving him a quick kiss.  
  
"Okay," he agreed, leaning down to kiss her again when she broke his hold and headed back to her office.  
  
The Holograms arrived at Jerrica's office only to be stopped by her secretary, "Sorry, Jerrica's in a meeting," she said, not giving them the option of interrupting. They wanted to burst right into the meeting and kick everyone out. They'd done it before. Kimber thought throwing her weight around as the company's co-owner was a lot of fun, but they decided against it. Instead, they walked down to one of the recording studios in the basement, trying to fine tune their plan.  
  
"Okay, everyone on the same wave length here?" Aja asked, like a general preparing for war. She looked directly at Kimber, but also wanted to be sure Shana and Raya didn't back down either.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I suggested this from the start, you know," Kimber grumbled.  
  
"Then it's settled, Synergy's plan will work, Jerrica gets Riot to go with her to the party at the Countess's tomorrow, we project the Jem hologram on Kimber, she flirts with Riot, everybody laughs, the whole Jem/Jerrica thing just a harmless little joke to keep Riot from knowing Jem's true identity," she rehashed. Synergy distrusted Riot greatly, not to mention wanted Jerrica to stay with Rio, so she devised the plan to trick Riot into believing Jerrica wasn't Jem at all.  
  
"So what do we say when Jerrica says 'no, she won't do it'?" Shana asked, sitting down on a chair in the corner looking extremely worried.  
  
"We have to convince her, Riot can't know! It's too dangerous. If we can't convince her, Synergy will," Aja explained.  
  
"Yeah, and it's not like we're telling her to dump Riot completely," Kimber sighed. "Jem can still date him."  
  
"You definitely would be dangerous with the Jem star earrings," Aja grumbled.  
  
The phone buzzed, it was Jerrica's secretary, "Kimber, Jerrica's meeting just ended," she said over the intercom.  
  
"Ready?" Aja asked. They all nodded.  
  
"You busy?" Rio asked, leaning in after the meeting had disbanded.  
  
"Just wrapping up," she said, still pouring over a ledger full of loan documents and pounding out numbers on a calculator. "I'm going to kill myself for agreeing to spend so much for that last Limp Lizards album... it's just not selling," she sighed.  
  
"If you're busy, I can come back," he said. Jerrica didn't seem to be in the mood to talk.  
  
"No, this can wait," Jerrica said definitively, closing up the ledger and putting all of her other work away. Joni walked in, about to start in on the current emergency.  
  
Rio got up, figuring Jerrica was too busy, "I'll..." Rio started to say, but Jerrica cut him off.  
  
"Rio sit down, please," she said, trying hard not to take her frustration out on him. Joni tried to get Jerrica's attention, but she cut her off, "Joni, can you please tell my secretary hold my calls, I have some personal business to attend to," she said, not trying to sound as arrogant as she came off.  
  
"Oh, of course," she said, a bit taken back, but left without another word.  
  
Jerrica kept arranging her desk, trying to sort out her feelings and find an appropriate 'game face' for this conversation. As much as she'd thought about how to tell Rio, now that it was actually happening, she realized she'd never fully prepared herself for it. Sitting across from the man she'd dearly loved since childhood, she accepted that she had to set things right. She had to think of him first, instead of herself.  
  
"Okay, so what did you want to talk to me about?" Rio asked, after a minute or two of silence.  
  
Jerrica leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. "I don't know, I've just been thinking a lot about the last couple of years, since all of this began...." she sighed. "Sometimes I still can't believe I'm running Starlight. That I'm actually capable of it... The last two years have flown by, so much has changed, and so much has stayed the same," she said, looking at him fondly. "I've made a lot of mistakes, and.... I've used the excuse of being so busy with Starlight as a scapegoat... I need to talk to you honestly, because I think you have a right to know the truth. You have to believe me that the only reason I didn't tell you up before was that I never wanted to hurt you..." She said all in one breath, her mind was spinning but her words had never been more sincere.  
  
"Are you trying to break up with me?" he asked very quietly.  
  
Jerrica flinched, "I think that'd be easier than what I'm about to tell you," she said in a low voice, barely her own.  
  
"Jerr," he sighed, standing up and grasping her hands, "you can tell me anything," he said, watching her bottom lip quiver, he knew she was near tears.  
  
"You've been the only constant in my life, Rio," she sighed, "the only one who I've always been able to count on, and I... I don't deserve you," she said, shaking her head and pulling her hands away.  
  
Jerrica sat there in silence, she didn't know what she was doing, Rio was liable to get angry and storm out of the room if she didn't say something soon. As much as she didn't want to say those three words, she knew she had to. Her mind was swirling, trying to study his face to predict his reaction. Would Synergy be right, would he explode in anger, yelling and screaming and say he never wanted to see her again? Perhaps he already knew, somehow, maybe he already know. She took a deep breath, as her chest rose with the inhalation of air, so did her confidence. She collected her composure, her lips ready to form the words. The silence was deafening, then she stopped, hearing voices outside her office.  
  
"Aja," Joni said, sounding like a disapproving mother, "Jerrica and Rio are discussing something, you better wait until..."  
  
"I hope we're in time...." Shana said, opening the door, Aja and Kimber rushed through first.  
  
"Jerrica, we've got to talk!" Aja interrupted, not even looking at Jerrica, just hoping they had stopped her before she told Rio.  
  
"Aja? Kimber? What are you doing?" She asked, flabbergasted that this was actually happening. "Get out, now!" she insisted.  
  
"No, we have to talk to you," Shana insisted, practically pulling Jerrica out of her chair.  
  
"This is a private conversation, what's with you?" Rio asked, more than a little annoyed.  
  
"Jerrica," Aja whined, leaning down to whisper to her friend, "don't worry, Synergy has a plan, we'll convince Riot he's wrong, nothing has to change."  
  
"Aja, no, stop," she argued.  
  
"I can see you're busy," Rio said, standing up "when your ready to actually talk to me, you know where my office is."  
  
"Rio, no, don't go! They were just leaving, right Aja?" Jerrica said, scowling at the Holograms.  
  
"Jerrica, I think you need to listen to what Aja has to say," Kimber insisted, trying to pull her sister aside.  
  
"This is ridiculous!" Rio yelled, "I'm leaving, you and your friends can play your little games," Rio walked to the door and was nearly hit by it as Riot rushed through.  
  
"Hasn't anyone heard of knocking!" Jerrica said, throwing her hands up in the air.  
  
"Jerrica, I must speak with you!" Riot demanded, "in private," he said scowling at Rio.  
  
Jerrica stared at the faces in the room, seeing, but not comprehending as she watched her friends trying to silently implore her to stay, Rio trying to hold his anger in check, and Riot's eyes searching to meet hers.  
  
"Riot, I... " she looked at him, the expression on his face was agony. She stood up, just too confused to exactly understanding what was going on in front of her.  
  
She looked from her sister, pleading emphatically for her to speak with them first, then to Riot, the only one in the room she truly did want to talk to. She hadn't seen him for over three days, and now there he was, in front of her, looking disheveled and unshaven with a wild look in his eyes. The yelling of Rio and Aja distracted her.  
  
"We're not interfering, we're her friends!" Aja yelled back, what ever Rio had said to set her off Jerrica hadn't heard.  
  
"Then what are you doing here?" he asked, mocking her, his voice higher pitched then usual.  
  
"Now, my dear, I have much to tell you," Riot said, in his usual arrogant voice, Kimber rolled her eyes.  
  
"Okay, sure," she sighed, she didn't want to leave, but didn't want to stay. Rio and Aja rarely argued, but when they did, it wasn't a pretty sight. "Rio, I'll be back in one minute, I promise," she said, "and the Holograms will be gone, promise?" she asked her sister.  
  
She grabbed Riot by the arm and drug him down the hall to a large conference room. "Riot, can't this wait?" Jerrica asked. She knew she needed to get back to her conversation with Rio, but was too worried something was seriously wrong with Riot.  
  
"It can't.. I've been in my studio writing since we last talked. I've had this idea for a while now, but Eric has been insisting the Stingers keep recycling the same old ideas over and over to sell singles. But you, you made me think, and truly look within myself. I have written an album, I want you to record with me... for Jem to record it with me... Oh, would you, please, this would mean so much."  
  
If Jerrica was confused before about Rio, Riot had just tripled the confusion. He had just poured his heart out on paper and then asked Jem to help him with the songs. Emotions and business never mixed, especially when Riot was still under contract for Stinger Sound, controlled by Eric Raymond. But then there was that smile; his hands on hers, looking into his eyes already expecting her to say 'yes'. "Riot, you know that I'll help you," Jerrica laughed, and it left good to have the weight of the previous conversation lifted from her mind.  
  
Riot was being the guy she always dreamt of. He had the look of a little boy excited on Christmas morning, his whole face lit up, smiling at her with complete dedication. "Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
"Of course," she laughed, "I'd love to help you," she continued to laugh. Riot rushed to picked her up spin her around and kiss her, hugging her after putting her down, resting his head on her shoulder, "you don't know what this means to me, I've finally written an album that tells the world everything I've wanted to say but never have been able to put into words. And it's all because of you... I'm going to release this as my first solo album, no Minx and Rapture and their demented ways, fighting about having their equal time as background singers. Imagine, when we go to mix it, the engineer won't be pawed at my Minx and cursed by Rapture, it will be a normal session!'  
  
"Riot, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself, let's sit down and look at your songs, talk about the orchestration..."  
  
Riot took Jerrica's hands into his, "This is why we are going to make such a great team, we complement each other so well. Right now I just want to book time immediately at Ocean Way Studios and put all of these ideas down on tape."  
  
"That's why there's so much red in Stingers Sound's books. Why don't you meet me at Kimber's demo studio. You can get something down on tape without it costing 750 an hour."  
  
"Of course," he smiled, leaning down and kissing her again. Jerrica didn't even think about Rio being in the next room, or her friends. She just wanted to be with Riot.  
  
"Shall we go now?" he asked, starting to lead her away.  
  
"I'll get my purse," she said, "I'll be right back," she smiled, breaking away from him only to kiss him again quickly.  
  
"Jerrica, if what you wanted to say was so important..." Rio said immediately as Jerrica charged into her office.  
  
"Jerrica?" Aja asked, as she noticed not only was she not answering Rio, she was totally ignoring all of them.  
  
"Sorry Aj, Rio, I've gotta go, I'll be back later," she said, turning around quickly when she'd picked up her purse.  
  
"Okay," Rio said, looking totally dumbfounded. It had been Jerrica who'd insisted they talk, only now she'd stopped everything to be at the beck and call of Riot.  
  
"Talk to your later," she waved, as if nothing the least bit unusual was going on.  
  
"Fine, be that way!" Rio said, slamming his hand down on Jerrica's desk. She didn't notice, she was already out the door.  
  
They took Riot's car back to Starlight Mansion. Jerrica figured it was safe to go there since her friends would be left stewing in her office for the next hour. Jerrica didn't really care, she'd made her decision, and they were her friends, and if they wanted to remain so, they would have to support that decision. Plus, Riot needed her more. Riot's unkempt look was only highlighted by the refined interior of his Aston Martin convertible. Jem had driven with him in it many times before, with Riot normally unmistakably dashing in an Italian suit that made him look like James Bond. Something was definitely going on with Riot right now, and Jerrica loved the fact he needed her.  
  
"I missed you," she sighed, leaning over and cuddling up next to his arm.  
  
"Did I interrupt something, between you and your friends," he asked, quietly. Jerrica totally being taken in by the charm.  
  
"It was nothing," she sighed. "The same old disagreement, nothing changes," she sighed.  
  
"I hope I didn't worry you, being gone so long," he said, the look of concern on his face.  
  
"A little, Minx and Rapture thought I abducted you," she laughed.  
  
Riot chuckled too, "ah, yes, they would think of that. Rapture has spent too much time with Minx," he sighed, very amused at what the girls must be thinking.  
  
"Don't you think you should call them, or something?" she asked.  
  
"They will have my attention, later. Right now I am yours," he said, smiling down at her. She snuggled closer to him. He broke her hold on his arm to reach behind her, pulling her closer to him.  
  
"It's the next left," Jerrica said, barely over a whisper, entranced by Riot, and awaiting the moment he would step into her home.  
  
Riot sped down the next few residential streets, showing no regard for anything but arriving swiftly at Starlight Mansion. Jerrica opened the gate from her remote and they drove up the circle drive way. Jerrica scanned the garage for Mrs. Bailey's car. It was no where in sight. She didn't have to worry about the girls, it wasn't even one o'clock, they'd be in school for hours.  
  
"This way," Jerrica said, leading him towards the back and the rehearsal room.  
  
Riot, guitar case in hand, looked a bit apprehensions looking around the familiar rehearsal room. Nothing there would help him with his mission; his passion; his music. He then saw Jerrica walking towards a small room off to the side, a scribbled note in the door read 'keep out'. Obviously, the domain of the teenage Kimber.  
  
Jerrica tried to rush in and tidy up. She hadn't been in Kimber's demo studio in several months. As she suspected, she found the control room a bit of a mess with pizza boxes and crumbled pieces of manuscript paper littering the floor. She tried to pick up, but stopped when Riot stood in the doorway and surveyed the room. It wasn't like the massive studios the Stingers usually rented and spent months in recording their albums. It was a third of the size, more compact, but contained the same type equipment. The studio itself was divided into two parts, a control room containing all the recording equipment and console, along with a few chairs and couch, and the studio or booth, an extremely well sound proof area where the musicians would be during the recording. The two parts were separated by a thick wall, heavy door, and a double pained glass window in front of the console allowing an easy view of most of the studio from the control room.  
  
"This will do," he said arrogantly, still scrutinizing the studio.  
  
"It's not much, but it has a great sound. We overdubbed some of Jem's vocals here on the last album," she said, already at work setting up.  
  
"My, Miss Benton, you never fail to surprise me. You have mastered recording engineering as well?" he asked with a devious smile.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I can get sound up on the board, I think," she said, hitting a few buttons on the old Neve console and bringing up a few faders. "Tape machine's setup," she sighed, looking over to the 24 track Studer multi track recorder spooling forward as she hit fast forward on the remote control. "My father was the recording engineer, I learned a few things from him, Aja and Kimber know how all this stuff works a lot better than I do?"  
  
"And Rio, he's Jem's engineer?" he asked tentatively, seeing a few photographs on the credenza of the Holograms and Rio together in the studio  
  
"Yeah, he is, he built this room," she sighed. She walked over to Riot now looking intensely at a picture of Rio as a teenager and Emmett working on some peace of electronics gear. "He learned a lot from my father, too," she added.  
  
"Is that how you met?"  
  
"Well, kind of, Rio lived next door as a kid, he used to hang out with my father in his workshop. What's with the interest in Rio?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing, really, just wanted to know more about you," he said casually, looking through the glass at the studio part of the room. It was small and cozy, the acoustic treatments looking modern and well thought out.  
  
"You don't have to worry about Rio," she said, quietly.  
  
"He loves you, I know he will be competition," he said honestly.  
  
"No, he won't," Jerrica said, taking a deep breath. "Not when I tell him, I've accepted that. I have."  
  
Riot looked at her thoughtfully, "alright," he said, stepping closer, "you sure your okay?"  
  
Jerrica shook her head, biting her bottom lip to try and hide her emotions. "Yeah, I'm fine..."  
  
He looked carefully at her, running his hand through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. She watched Riot's hand trace the outline of her face, stopping in the middle of a breath, letting it out jaggedly as Riot leaned down to kiss her. The kiss was intense, Jerrica wanting nothing more than to loose herself in the moment and think about nothing else but how much Riot loved her. How much she didn't need Rio at all, when she had Riot. They broke away, both slightly out of breath.  
  
"Well, I guess we should get back to working on your songs," she said, knowing where it would lead if they didn't stop now.  
  
Riot took her hands in his, bringing them up to his face and kissing them. "I want you to hear my songs," he said, his voice hypnotic to Jerrica, "I want you to know how I feel."  
  
Jerrica didn't say anything, just nodded. Riot kissed her hands again and let go, heading to pick up his guitar. "Shall we start now?"  
  
Jerrica just nodded, watching him intently retrieve his guitar.  
  
"I wrote a duet for us to sing," Riot proclaimed, pulling a stack of manuscript paper from his guitar case.  
  
"Okay," Jerrica smiled, "let me go change," she said heading for the door. She knew Riot expected to sing this song with Jem, not her. She didn't really like singing as herself that much anyways, it was easier to escape her problems as Jerrica by making the transformation to Jem.  
  
"Show time, Synergy," she said, stepping into a utility closet in the rehearsal room. She waited a second, puzzled not to see the familiar blast of light and transformation into Jem.  
  
Instead, Synergy herself appeared.  
  
"Synergy, this isn't funny, I have to get back to Riot," she said quickly, starting to panic.  
  
"Jerrica, you must understand, Riot is not to be trusted," she began to argue, when Jerrica cut her off.  
  
"Synergy, this is too important," she said, her anger turning to tears. "I.. I know what I'm doing, I need to become Jem and return to Riot now, " she pleaded.  
  
"Jerrica, I can see what you can not, Riot is playing a calculated, manipulative game with you. I can not bare to see you get hurt," she insisted.  
  
Jerrica sniffled, trying to regain her composure, "I can make my own decisions. Show time Synergy," she demanded, "Show time or would you rather Riot and I go into your room and type in the command manually?"  
  
"As you wish," the hologram of Synergy faded and with that, the Jem hologram appeared.  
  
Taken back, but not the least bit convinced, Jerrica returned to Riot.  
  
"You look spectacular, someday you're going to have to share you secret," he smiled, greeting her warmly as she entered. Jem smiled coyly but did not respond.  
  
They spent the next hour or so going over the music, rehearsing the harmonies, Riot strumming his guitar. Jem could not imagine a better way to spend the time, repeating Riot's lyrics about love, destiny, and happiness over and over again.  
  
"Wanna get this song down on tape?" Jem asked a bit breathless after a complete run through. Riot picked up his bottle of water and drank before answering.  
  
"Yes," he said, thoroughly enjoying the idea of Jem being the one to help him fulfill his vision. "The sooner the world can know how I truly feel about you."  
  
Jem giggled a little, "Can you set up in the booth?" Jem suggested.  
  
"I've done a good amount of sound work myself," he smiled. "Touring with my first band, Nirvana, we had to set up ourselves, but I must admit, it's been a while."  
  
"The mic closet's over there," she pointed, "I'm not good at remembering what they're all for." He opened up the closet and ran his hand over a particularly old microphone. He picked it up admiring it. Jerrica looked at him and smiled, "My father collected old tube mics, restored them, that's a Neumann U47, one of his favorites."  
  
"This is perfect," he smiled.  
  
"Jem's usual vocal mic is set up in the booth already," Jerrica said, handing Riot a set of headphones.  
  
The booth was larger than it appeared, several Yamaha DX-7 keyboards and a small stack of guitar amps were in a corner. Kimber's usual place was set up, two microphones already in place to record vocals and acoustic guitar. Riot was starting to feel at home. There was no pressure, no pacing Eric worrying about budgets. Instead he looked up to see Jem working hard to help fulfill his vision. Riot wasted no time setting up his vocal microphone, then sat down and adjusted the other mic on his acoustic guitar. He strummed it, and Jerrica's voice came over the talk back speaker, "sounds good."  
  
Jem stood at the console trying to remember how all of this stuff worked. Jerrica thought better under pressure than she did as Jem. In the studio Jem was suppose to relax and have fun, not have to figure out how to set up a headphone mix. She was glad Riot wasn't wearing his headphones yet, feeding back audio to him would definitely ruin the mood. "How's that?" she asked after pressing a few buttons.  
  
"Perfect, then why don't you join me, my love," Riot said, speaking into his microphone,, his voice warm and jovial over the speakers in the control room. "I sing my best when I am singing to you."  
  
Jem just blushed. She set up some rough levels on the board and rushed to open the heavy double doors into the studio and hurry inside. She sat down next to Riot, adjusting her own microphone, then hitting a button on the remote for the 24 track to go into record.  
  
"They're not in the house!" Shana and Raya called, meeting Kimber and Aja outside by Riot's car.  
  
"I don't get where they could be?" Aja thought, "Riot's car's here, Jerrica's is no where in sight, she couldn't have just left with him?"  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure," Kimber sighed. "She's not making much sense anymore."  
  
"Okay, well, let's look around here some more, maybe there's a clue where she went," Aja suggested. They all split up, Kimber walking around to the back of the house.  
  
Riot released the last note with a huge smile on his face, looking over to Jem with total dedication. "You feel this as well, don't you," he asked.  
  
"Well, Riot, I ...." Jem was truly taken back. The song he had wrote her was magical. She couldn't think of anything else.  
  
"Has nobody ever wrote a song for you before?" he asked, chuckling a bit.  
  
"Well, not really," she said, Kimber had based some of her songs on Jerrica and Rio's relationship, but never had a man written a song professing his love for her, not in a way that wasn't light hearted sappy pop. This song was intense and meaningful, Jem dwelling on every word trying to drink in the meaning behind each of them. "No, no one ever has," she smiled, "thank you."  
  
She stood up moving closer to him, bending over to kiss him. He returned the kiss even more passionately. The song still swimming in her head, she let him push her to the floor, Riot's body on top of hers. She giggled as Riot's stubbly face brushed against her face and neck as he kissed her. Then, she saw the door to the studio open. She'd locked it, so whom ever it was, they must have had a key.  
  
"Riot, hold on," she panted, "we're not alone," she warned, Riot still pawing at her while they stood up. She kissed him again. "Wait here," she said, teasing him a little by running a finger down his chest suggestively. "I'll be right back."  
  
Kimber looked embarrassed watching her older sister walk out of the studio, "I hope I didn't interrupt what I thought I saw," she said, completely dumbfounded. It wasn't like Jerrica hadn't ever walked in on Kimber and one of her boyfriends making out before, but Kimber had never seen Jem and Riot carrying on like that.  
  
Jem just giggled, she wanted her sister to be happy for her. Living in the same house, it was impossible for their private lives to be completely private. "Riot wrote a song for me," she said dreamily.  
  
The way Jem said this confirmed Kimber's suspicions, Jerrica really had lost her mind. "Okay," she said hesitantly, fighting the urge to go off screaming to Aja or Shana immediately. "Jem, why don't we sit down and talk, Synergy..."  
  
"I've already heard what Synergy has to say," Jem said sharply. Kimber just looked around the room in disbelief. "Kimber, listen to me," Jem said, about to whine but trying to maintain some attempt at dignity. "Just give Riot a chance, for me?" she asked. "We need your help to put this album together."  
  
"Well," she looked at her sister and couldn't say 'no', so she relented, "okay." She didn't want to, but for her sister, she'd do anything.  
  
Riot looked in without comment as the skeptical younger sister of his current 'love' talked quietly. He did not want anyone to interfere. He knew Kimber disliked him and he saw her as nothing other than a petulant child. But he had promised to get along with Jem's friends, so when Jem returned to him, he said nothing. The two decided to keep working on their song, recording another take of their duet, 'One'. At the end, Kimber was stunned by the depth of Riot's lyrics.  
  
They spent the rest of the day working on the song, Kimber now at Riot's disposal on keyboards. Then, Kimber and Riot wrote a part for Kimber to play on a mandolin. The song was coming together better than they could have ever expected. Kimber was surprised she actually did love the music. The sound was incredible, not the over produced pop that the Stingers normally did, it was simple, lyrical, and yet complex. Something she never thought Riot capable of.  
  
Day turned to night and they continued to work. Kimber sat at the board working on mixing the tracks. Riot and Jem were sitting behind her on the couch, Riot not able to keep his hands to himself being that close to Jem.  
  
"Will you two get a room," Kimber groaned. She was still pushing buttons on a reverb unit, perfecting her mix. "Here, listen to this," Kimber said, still concentrating on the equipment in front of her.  
  
They listened to it in silence, the music filling the room. Even in Riot's mind, he couldn't have imagined it sounding better. Riot approached Kimber putting his hands on her shoulders. "Your sister told me how talented you were," he smiled, "but talented does not do you justice, you are truly gifted," he announced. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help." Kimber melted.  
  
Even though it was three in the morning, no one felt like sleeping. Jem had dozed off occasionally on Riot's shoulder, but he and Kimber worked intently on his next song, "Pride".  
  
"You know what?" Kimber asked, listening to the song one more time. "I think we should use the chorus from the second take, it has a little more punch," she said, sending the tape machine flying back and making the changes on the board.  
  
"Your right," he said, listening intently. "But, it's still missing something, though."  
  
"I think it needs a 12 string guitar, instead of that keyboard," she said, closing her eyes to concentrate on the sound the way her father use to. "Definitely, I'll go get mine," she said, jumping out of her seat.  
  
It wasn't until then that it occurred to her that she'd been sent by Aja and Shana to find Jem when she went into the studio. The whole house was dark, she figured they must have settled down and gone to bed.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Aja scolded, seeing Kimber trekking out of her room with several guitar cases.  
  
"The studio," she shrugged. Kimber usually lived in there, she hoped no one would figure that's were Riot and Jerrica were hiding.  
  
"You were suppose to help us look for Jerrica, I don't know what were going to do. No one's seen her, Rio's furious! He's gone off on that tour and he doesn't even want to speak with Jerrica."  
  
Kimber looked down, a little embarrassed that she hadn't been able to convince her sister to see reason, but she had Riot. She thought about the lyrics of the song, 'One', and smiled.  
  
"There's nothing funny about this," Aja snapped, then relented, "do you have any idea where she could be?"  
  
"Somewhere she can try and sort all of this out," Kimber answered honestly, only leaving out that she was doing this in the mansion. "If she needs our help she will ask. She does have a right to be happy," Kimber insisted. "If being with Riot makes her happy... we have no right to judge."  
  
"So you think she's made her decision? To leave Rio for Riot?" Shana asked, walking out of her room with a bathrobe on.  
  
"She knows how angry Rio will be when he finds out the truth," Kimber sighed. "How can she expect to have a future with Rio when she knows he will leave her when he knows the truth?" she asked.  
  
Aja swallowed hard and began to realize that Jerrica probably wasn't being as irrational and crazy as everyone thought she was. Still, Jerrica was suppose to be the leader of this group, it was Kimber who was young and impulsive. It was just too weird for Aja for it to be the other way around.  
  
"I'm going back down to finish up a song," Kimber said, not wanting to get sucked into a discussion about this with Aja. "I have to get this down on tape or I'll forget."  
  
The older two Holograms nodded and didn't inquire any further. They knew Kimber used the studio as a way to sort out her problems by herself.  
  
Kimber and Riot stayed up the entire night, loosing themselves the music and in finishing up the next song, all the while Jem sound asleep on the couch. She woke up the next morning to hear the sound of Kimber playing the grand piano in the rehearsal room, working on a difficult song Riot wrote about how angry he was at his mother for not standing up to his father called, "Can't Go Back."  
  
"Good, you're up," Kimber smiled, "wanna sing backup with me for this next song?" she asked.  
  
"Where's Riot?" Jem yawned.  
  
"Restroom... don't worry, Aja and Shana don't know either of you are here,"  
  
Kimber said quickly, knowing Jem was more than a little worried about how her friends would react.  
  
"We can't hide out here forever," Jerrica sighed.  
  
"Let them hear these songs, they'll change their minds," Kimber insisted, still pressing some buttons on a keyboard near by.  
  
"You think so?" Jem asked, a little surprised Kimber would be so optimistic  
  
"It did mine," Kimber shrugged. She did believe that her friends would come around, and at least tolerate Riot. Of course, that was before she knew Aja had had Riot's car towed. 


	3. Chapter 4

Circle in the Sand  
  
Chapter Four  
  
  
  
    "Kimber?" Shana didn't have to say anything else. The look on her face said it all. Kimber didn't try to argue, instead flopped into the nearest chair in the rehearsal hall while Shana peered into the demo studio.  
  
    "They're not in there... not anymore."  
  
    Shana turned back to look at Kimber, not asking for an explanation, just trying to put the pieces together. She noticed a stack of manuscript paper sitting on the top of the grand piano and picked it up, studying it silently. Kimber tried to be patient, she knew Shana had every right to be angry with her, she had hid Jerrica and Riot right under her friends' noses for two days. Still, the silence was unbearable.  
  
    Where'd they go?" she asked quietly, when she knew Kimber couldn't handle squirming anymore. then looked back down at the music.  
  
    "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kimber said with a rye smile. "Trust me."  
  
    Shana didn't answer, trust wasn't exactly a word she'd use concerning Kimber right now. "You and Riot have been writing songs together?"  
  
    "Just helping," Kimber shrugged, it was just too easy for her to regress into her pissed off teenager routine if no one insisted she sit up straight and act like an adult. "Jem's working on Riot's solo album, Jerrica suggested they work here, and I volunteered to help out. Jem's hopeless with the equipment."  
  
    "Will you stop talking like she's two different people!" It was the first time in along while Kimber had heard Shana raise her voice. "She's not, Jerrica has to own up to what she does as Jem, it's not fair she keeps playing these games, playing with people's emotions."  
  
    "Rio does a fine job of that on his own, and he doesn't have a secret identity to protect."  
  
    "Jerrica isn't protecting Synergy anymore, she's protecting herself. She wants to have it all and she doesn't care who get's hurt."  
  
    "The only one who's been getting hurt is Jerrica, and none of us want to look past ourselves to realize that," Kimber quickly. She had to say something, if Shana was this angry, Aja would be beyond reasoning and that was the last thing Jerrica needed now. "Jerrica's relationships are none of our business, and I don't like discussing this behind her back anymore than I'd like her discussing my boyfriends with you, but since you brought it up... It's Rio who's toying around with Jerrica, not the other way around. He wants to play the field, have his choice of girls to call on, only he accidentally picked two people who just happen to be one in the same. We're Jerrica's friends, we're suppose to be on her side, but instead we don't want to rock the boat, we want her and Rio together, like it's always been. But it's not fair to Jerrica, she's got a guy who loves her for who she is and spent the last week writing songs to her saying that. Rio couldn't manage to spit out the 'L' word if his life depended on it, and Riot's so madly in love with her he'd marry her on the spot if she let him."  Kimber had never said so much without breathing in her life, she'd never been able to argue in Jerrica's behalf nearly so clearly. She sat back, confident there was no argument against her logic.  
  
    "How does Riot to that to people?" Shana asked, completely exacerbated.  Kimber didn't respond, only tried to look puzzled, as if she didn't already know what was coming, so Shana explained, "wrap people up in his spell and keep them from seeing that he's a lying manipulative scheming rat!"  
  
    Kimber shook her head and sat back up to argue. "You didn't hear the songs, you didn't hear them sing together."  
  
    Shana wasn't convinced, "and you can't write a song about something you don't feel?"  
  
    "Not like that...I couldn't. Just listen to the demo, please, I think then you'll understand."  
  
    "I understand right now, and I could listen to the songs a thousand times, it's not going to make me like Riot."  
  
    "Hu? Like Riot? Who likes Riot?" Aja asked walking in. Kimber was certain she hadn't overheard anything important, she wasn't yelling yet.  
  
    "Jem," Shana sighed, she knew Aja too well, and getting her and Kimber into a screaming match right then and there was not going to help.  
  
    Aja rolled her eyes. "She's just... not herself. Riot's... maybe he's hypnotizing her?"  
  
    Shana shook her head, "I can't be that simple. Who was on the phone?"  
  
    "Rio, asking where Jerrica was again. Someone at Starlight saw Jerrica there this morning, she got a few papers and left. Rio's fuming."  
  
    Shana tried to look Kimber in the eyes, but Kimber stared at the floor, wishing this could turn out differently somehow. "She's got to talk to him. She doesn't have a choice."  
  
    "I know, but she can't now."  
  
    Aja looked over at the two and it took her a moment to realize they hadn't just been talking about the weather. Neither cared to elaborate until Aja cleared her voice, starting to voice her own opinion.  
  
    "Jerrica's busy. She's in a meeting, she'll call me when it's over. I'll relay any message you want me to."  
  
  
  
    Riot tossed his head and laughed, returning to talk business with Eric and the other suits from Stinger Sound; still trying to keep the slight smile in the corner of his mouth in check. For a moment Jerrica thought he did have things under control. He'd fooled Eric. She could see him squirm having to explain his refusal to letting Jem, and herself, work on Riot's solo album. Perhaps they really did have nothing to worry about, the bottom line would win out over personal hatred. Then Jerrica saw it, the way Riot titled his head, moved his hands, he was unnerved, maybe even more worried than she. Only they handled it differently, Jerrica focused harder, matched legalese with legalese. Riot pumped up the bravado. He stood up and paced while explaining his vision of the album; questions were asked, most he brushed off without a second thought. What Jerrica had once thought was arrogance she now understood; admired; loved.  
  
    It was as if she could look through his outer facade and see who he truly was. Look through the act and see the man. It was what Rio wasn't able to do with her. Not that Synergy hadn't made her point with in Greece with Jerrica's short lived third identity, but as much as Jerrica wanted it to be so, but Synergy was a computer, and didn't understand. Rio couldn't see though the hologram and see Jerrica. He might have been attracted to her in any form, but as well as he knew her, he never had looked at Jem one day and saw Jerrica. Riot had.  
  
    And now she had a job, a job that Riot admitted he needed her to fill; as his anchor; his right hand. She stood her ground at the meeting, providing the facts and figures, giving the reasonable argument while Riot put on a show. The only difference was now Jerrica knew the show was a well rehearsed, calculated plan, as well stategized as any corporate maneuver executed in the board room. And he played it brilliantly. The suits at Stinger Sound didn't want to help Jem or Jerrica than more she wanted to help the Misfits, but the number crunchers were already salivating with the thought of the profits the it would make. But there was corporate strategy, marketing, timing, image; not to mention contracts to work out, Jem and Jerrica's involvement were not going to be easy. Profits aside, they could just as well shelve Riot's solo album just to spite Jerrica.  
  
    The arguments were loud and intense, emotions ran high. Riot's bravado increased, serious discussions did not. Jerrica wasn't use to being in the background quite this much, especially when she worried Riot was being railroaded. He had a good mind for business, but it wasn't his forte, and he trusted the men in the room entirely too much.    
  
    In Riot's mind, he thought he had everything under control. Jerrica knew better but thought better of saying so. Instead, she struggled to understand Riot's logic. She bit her tongue as she saw his mistakes, she had faith in him the way she wished people had faith in her. As the meeting continued, her faith was proven aptly placed. Even has the arguing continued, she knew they'd won. It was a slight change in Riot's demeanor, his confidence rose; he sensed victory. Jerrica could see it in his eyes well before anyone else in the room, Eric only noticed it when Riot started to swagger, and hated him for it. Riot only owned half the company but his influence nearly nullified whatever Eric had to say.  
  
    "Fine, do an album with Jem!" Eric gave in, rocking back in his chair as if disgusted with the entire situation. "Dye you hair pink and join the Holograms for all I care."  
  
    Riot took the high road, turning reasonably to the suits, "It's just one album, and it's in our best interest to continue with my solo album. The potential is..."  
  
    "I can't say I disagree with Raymond entirely, an alliance with Starlight Music?" said an older man, who was Stinger Sounds CFO. He looked concerned, but also wary of arguing with Riot. He knew he couldn't win.  
  
    "Alliance is not exactly the word, it's only the one album," Jerrica started to explain.  
  
    "And what word would you use?" snapped one of the marketing directors.  
  
    "A temporary stay in the hostilities so that Jem and I can record this album," Riot explained calmly.  
  
    "Then why is she here?" snapped the marketing director.  
  
    "If I remember correctly,  Misfit Music royally screwed her sister when she recorded one of the most successful albums they ever produced. I think it's more than reasonable that Jem is a little concerned about the legal arrangements of this deal. Ofcourse, with my co-ownership of the company, I assured her she has nothing to worry about," Riot glared at Eric, "but she still would like Jerrica to represent her, strictly as a manager in this venture." Jerrica nodded. Riot was getting exactly what he wanted, no strings attached, and she knew that would infuriate Eric and anyone else in his company he brought over from Starlight or just had a particularly strong dislike for her and her company.  
  
    The suits backed down. Riot looked to Eric to see if he would continue to argue, when he said nothing, Riot got up to leave. "Send the contracts to my office as soon as they are drawn up. We will sign them in there," Riot walked to the door, motioning Jerrica to follow.  
  
  
  
    "What did I say? I told you I couldn't loose," he smiled, sweeping Jerrica up in a tight embrace. "This is going to be perfect, you'll see."  
  
    "If it's going to be perfect, it's going to take a lot of work. I'll get on the phone and see about studio time... Riot... Rory! Stop it," Jerrica insisted, half serious, half giggling, pushing Riot off of her when his groping was going a bit too far for a hallway inside Stinger Sound.  
  
    "Figures," Eric grumbled, walking by.  
  
    "What's that suppose to mean?" Jerrica responded quickly, Riot's hands still on her waist.  
  
    "You two," he said in the same tone of voice, "only way you'd make a deal like that."  
  
    "That's enough, Eric," Riot snapped, much harsher than any tone he'd used in the meeting.  
  
    Eric rolled his eyes, "I'll have to remember that next time I sign your sister to record anything for me. I'd do it if it got me out of paying you anything in the back end." For an instant he looked like he'd stay and have it out with Riot, then thought better of it. Riot was a much bigger guy than he was, and it wouldn't have been the first time he'd taken a swing at him.  
  
    "Ignore him," Riot sighed, forcing Jerrica to turn around and look at him.  
  
    Jerrica looked up at him, straightening the lapel of his suit. "I never take anything Eric says seriously." She smiled, it did bother her, but with Riot in front of her, all she could think of was how good Riot looked in a suit.  
  
    "What?" he laughed, not able to interpret Jerrica's expression.  
  
    "You clean up well, Mr Llewelleyn, maybe we should go out and celebrate?"  
  
    "My dear, you read my mind."  
  
  
  
    Raya joined the Holograms before they left. None of them were exactly sure what they were doing, but everyone, other than Kimber, felt they had to do something.  
  
    "Let's go to Starlight," Aja sighed, standing up, "Jerrica has to show up there sometime." The others followed and were almost out to the door when a bright red sports car came speeding up the driveway.  
  
    "I thought we locked the gate?" Aja asked.  
  
    "You did, Minx made a key," Rapture said, getting out before Minx had even stopped the car. "Riot, where is he?"  
  
    "How should we know?" Aja shrugged, "now get out of here, it's private property."  
  
    "We want to know what you've done to him!" Minx screamed, as Rapture stopped her from going after Aja in a desperate attempt to force them to explain.  
  
    "We know he was here, he left a message for us from you're number," Rapure asked, remaining calm.  
  
    "Well, he's not here now, so bye," Aja answered sarcastically.  
  
    "Then where is he?" Minx yelled, almost hysterical.  
  
    Kimber rolled her eyes, "try Stinger Sound in a meeting with Eric, geesh."  
  
    "What? And he didn't tell us?" Rapture asked, feeling a little silly, especially with Minx still acting as if she was near tears.  
  
    "Join the club," Aja sighed, realizing Kimber knew a lot more than she was letting on.  
  
    "Minx, Rapture, Riot's fine, he was just off writing some songs and lost track of time, happens to the best of us. Go home, I'm sure he'll call. You don't have to worry about him," Kimber said, stepping up and trying not to keep the running tradition of trading verbal insults with the Stinger girls.  
  
    Rapture nodded, only because Minx was too distraught about Riot writing songs without her, "Minx, don't worry, I'm sure he'll need you when it comes to recording. You're the keyboard expert, remember?" she said kindly to Minx, guiding her back to the car.  
  
    "Ugh!! What kind of power does that man have!" Aja raged once they'd left. "He's gone for a couple of days and those two are acting like strung out junkies!"  
  
    "Guys, you're not being fair. Riot's been gone a while, they were worried. We'd be that worried if Jem had been gone for that long."  
  
    "She was, and we didn't know where she was, only you did," Shana corrected Kimber.  
  
    "You knew where Jem was?" Raya asked, completely surprised.  
  
  
  
The next day  
  
    Jerrica had never been able to so easily forget everything that usually made her stay up the night pacing. Not that she wasn't working hard, she was, it was just that there wasn't any stress or pressure. Riot didn't argue or complain. Everything she did was perfect in his eyes, which was a relief because she wasn't quite sure how this was going to work out. Riot had insisted she not to delegate any of the responsibilities of the album to her staff at Starlight or rely much on the staff at Singer Sound. Jerrica didn't need an explanation, she knew neither side would be willing to help the competition, the enemy. She found she liked working on her own much better, anyways She wasn't questioned, didn't need to justify her decisions. She couldn't figure out how she managed to get through all the years of Rio, the Holograms, and Joni all nagging her for explanations and questioning her decisions. This was perfect, her and Riot. The way it should be.  
  
    "Studio's booked for a tracking session starting this Thursday," Jerrica smiled, handing Riot a cup of coffee as she walked into his office.  
  
    Riot smiled adoringly at her, "you are amazing, do you know that?"  
  
    "Oh, it just took a few phone calls, well, okay, some sweet talking and calling in a few favors, but this album, we have to record it now, it's...."  
  
    Riot stood up and took her hands in his, "I feel it too, it's as if when we're away from the music, we're missing part of our soul," he said, the intensity and depth in his eyes staring down at Jerrica made her feel that exact same way when he said it. As if she'd felt that way all along.  
  
"I...." Jerrica tried to agree with him, but Riot's lips met hers before she had a chance to form the words, she arms wrapped around him and she forgot about everything else but him. 


End file.
